Memoirs of a Copier Sales Person

The Week in Copiers Ten Years Ago

the last week of September 2010

The push is on and the last quarter of the year is upon us.  Who will be the winners and the losers? After speaking with a few more Office Equipment Dealers this week I'm encouraged with the rate of transformation that is taking place.  Dealers are not waiting for things to happen they are making things happen.  More and more dealers are adopting new services and products for their clients.  The question becomes when do the copier manufacturers become irrelevant to the Office Office Equipment dealer?

Enjoy these most popular threads from ten years ago this week.

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Thirty-Five of Selling Copiers

Today was one of those days when you it was non-stop action all day long.  I finally finished up about 5 minutes ago with presenting an existing client a creative way to keep their existing copier.  (PM me for details)

I didn't receive any docs today but had two more clients that want to move forward with new MFP's.  One was an existing account that I've been chasing for two years and another is a net new for a small A4 MFP which had some decent GP in it.  Funny after I received the verbal for the net new I asked the client this "I know you received a lot proposals, and our entire correspondence was via email, can you tell me why you made Stratix your choice?"  I received my answer that was two fold with the least important being the brand of copier and the most important was how we would support the MFP and the client for the next three years.  

Over the years I've learned to be as thorough as possible with my quotes/proposals and try to make the transaction simple and explain the proposal in their language.   Thus I don't use our language for proposals I use their understanding of our business.  Which in most cases is very limited.  I don't use CPC, FMV, Clicks, ARDF, SPDF acronyms, I spell it out for the clients so that there are no questions about what those acronyms mean.  In other words I try to communicate with their level of knowledge about MFPs.  In this case it worked and all of the extra work was much appreciated.

I still have all of the other deals in a seven day cycle that I spoke about.  Hoping within the next seven days I can have $60K to Make October Great!

There was zero time for prospecting, inmails or emails today.  All of the calls and emails were focused on moving orders across the finish line.  Thus the last two days of this week made up for the bad beginning to the week.

I'm hoping by the end of tomorrow to have three orders completed and then perform follows up calls and email on the remaining 30 opportunities that I have open.

Lately I've been spending more time on Linkedin looking for those special treats.  I posted one a few weeks that I thought was interesting and thanx to Dayna Karron I found another treat today.  See below

I especially loved the part about dopamine rush. Yup I am that junkie that needs his dopamine rush as many times a week as I can get it.

If you get the chance connect with Michele and Dayna you'll be glad you did.

-=Good Selling-=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Thirty-Four of Selling Copiers

On Monday of this week which was day 132 I wasn't in a good place.  All of the hard work that I put in wasn't going to come to fruition for September.  All of the calls, emails, inmails, posting content on Linkedin and my own Jersey Plotters site just didn't get me to where I wanted to be.  

It was the end of a quarter and a quarter that I had a decent shot to rack up some bonus dollars. In the end I finished with one of my worst months in the last six months. Hey I can only chalk it up to as sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.  The only saving grace is that I have a huge funnel going into the last three months of the year.  

I want to finish the year strong, I want that bonus, and I want to get to another Presidents Club trip.  But more importantly I want to prove to my-self that I can still hit my numbers in middle of arguably the worst crisis our industry has even seen.  It's dedication, it's pride, it's determination and dedication that will drive me for the next three months

Each one of these blogs I posted on Linkedin with a short snippet with one of the paragraphs I wrote about.  Monday's blog seemed to hot a note with many of my connections in the industry.  Just thought I'd like to share some of those with everyone tonight.

Thanx to all of those that took the time to post a thread for the blog.   I was especially fond of the thread Pamela posted.  I was also thankful that she noticed the writing and the content is real, there's nothing made up and we're all in the same struggle together.

Not going to write about today, but I will write about yesterday for a few more paragraphs.

I had three virtual appointments yesterday.  One at 3PM, one at 4PM and One at 4:30PM.  One was net new and the other two were existing clients.  The net new ghosted me, however I had a call/meeting from an existing client.  That call went rather well, I had submitted a proposal for 4 devices two months ago, however I was told this wouldn't have legs until the second quarter of 2021.  Turns out they are going to move forward in the next two weeks with four devices that should add up to $32K.  It's going to be in three segments and the first one came over today.  

My 4PM call went well but no order, the DM stated they were getting another quote and was hoping to have it by the end of this week.  I was also told that they would get back to me with the brand and model to see if they are comparing apples to apples.  Just that statement told me pretty much that I'm in the drivers seat.  That's a $7K deal that feel pretty good for the next week.

My 4:30PM meeting went well for knocking out a competitive device in one of my own accounts.  After reviewing the virtual proposal the DM gave the verbal to move forward with two devices for a total of $18K.  Those docs went out this AM.

Then a late night text and call with a net new brought a $12K deal to life also.  Those order docs went out to day also.

I don't count deals until I have them in hand but it all goes well in one weeks time I can make up for September and might be able MAKE OCTOBER GREAT AGAIN!

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Thirty-Two of Selling Copiers

The last blog I wrote was last Tuesday the 15th and that was day 128.  Today marks 132 days (22 working days per month) or half a year of working remote with pandemic in place.  

By the end of the today all I had was one massive headache. All of the good stuff that was created on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week fizzled.  With two days left in the month I'm sucking wind and I'm not too happy about where I'm at.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday I have three appointments and all of them have the chance to close by the 23rd.  I've prepared, I'm ready and the only thing I need to do is to get the order docs prepped in advance.  If all goes well I can end the call and 5 minutes later the client has the documents.  There is no time to waste.  Tomorrow morning will be spent working on those order documents so they are ready to go.

Last week was slow to develop and by Wednesday I was thinking this just may not happen this month.  On Thursday I had two good hits, one from an existing account that wants to upgrade two devices and then a text from another account that told me to call his buddy.  Friday saw me with another opportunity for a pre-owned A3 MFP.  I thought this was really coming together and with three days left I could do this.

The pre-owned A3 dropped off this AM because a tech was able to get the copier running (competitor tech).  The buddy text opportunity I wasn't able to connect with and the other opportunity (existing client) has an appointment at 4PM tomorrow.  Late tomorrow should be a RUSH, I have a 3:00PM, 4PM, and then 4:30PM.  Thus you just might not see a blog from me tomorrow night.

These are crazy times, the stress, the ups and downs can take their toll on your mental fitness.  As many times as I wanted to just through in the towel and say this isn't going to work, I told myself that I still have three months left in the year. That's 25% of the year left, which is still plenty of times to make things happen.  Funny about that make things happen line. I could have been a loser today and waited for something to happen.  I didn't wait,  I ended up making the rest of the calls and the emails that I had on my list. 

Tomorrow is another day and even though this day really sucked can it really get that much worse?  Well it could,  I could pull another zero tomorrow.  But even if I pull that zero sooner or later this is all going to come together and when it does I will be there.

In my 90 day funnel I now have 28 opportunities, twenty percent of those are probably crap (but there is always hope).  Moving into the last quarter of the month the total revenue is $378,000.   That $378K should get me around the $130K mark for the last quarter.  Of course the $130K isn't going to cut it and the remedy is to continue prospecting get that $378K to at least $425K.  Funny when it comes right down to it, it's really is a numbers game.

Now I will congratulate my-self on surviving a half a year of working remote and having the world turned up-side down.  I can think of all the bad, but to make this far in this type of business climate I will pat myself on the back and say you've done a decent job

Now it's time to finish the year!

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Twenty-Seven of Selling Copiers & IT Services

Did you notice anything different in the title?  I finally included IT services because I spent quite of bit of time today prospecting for both.  While I'm no master at selling IT I do have an entire team behind me that can help.  Now it's just up to me to ask that six foot question. 

Last week I was able to knock down one content TEAMS meeting with an existing client.  I realize that my focus can't be just about copiers anymore especially with the way things are today.

Pretty busy day for me, while I didn't have a lot of prospecting time I was able to know down two small orders and get them processed today.  I'm no where close to where I want to be, but like I stated on Friday you just never know what tomorrow will bring you.

I'm still dealing with many of the same issues with no call backs, no return emails and leaving plenty of messages.  For now I have to be satisfied with growing the funnel because at some point in time the funnel will burst.  I just need to be patient and stop driving myself crazy with why is stuff not happening.

A good friend of mine wrote a nice piece on his blog site the other day. It was so good that I thought I would share with everyone.  I've know West McDonald for some time now and I've always been impressed with his knowledge of the industry along with his blogging. I may not ready that many books however I always find the time to read blogs from my favorite peeps in the industry.

If used properly, LinkedIn is one of the most powerful and “free” sales tools you can add to your arsenal. If used incorrectly, it won’t do you any good at all. In fact, it could actually hurt your close rates. The blog you’re about to read will help make sure you squeeze as much value and power out of LinkedIn as you can. We’re going to cover the “DOs” and “DON’Ts” that I’ve learned as a power user over the years. Let’s dive in!  Read the rest here

I've been a member of Linkedin since 2003, and on most days I'm posting up 0 to 30 threads a day (some may say that is too much).  Most of those threads were always something leading back to my blog or threads I posted on the P4P Hotel.  It was three months ago when I turned on the paid premium service.  I find the service is somewhat pricey however after using the premium for three months I'm hooked.  

What's changed with Linkedin?  I believe the recent pandemic has lead to an increase of more C level execs finally tuning in and using Linkedin more frequently than before. I've had the premium service before but really never had that much luck with it.  I would like to thank Dayna Karron for helping me out in late April of this year.  It's amazing when people you've never met are willing to go out of their way to help each other.  I know how that feels because I've done the same with other peeps in our industry.  But a special shout out for Dayna!

My numbers for the day.  Two orders placed for not a lot a revenue, seventeen emails, one appointment, sixteen calls, one inmail and one Linkedin post.  Like I stated not a great day for prospecting.

Seven days left in the month.

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Twenty-Six of Selling Copiers

It's 10:24 PM with a cool breeze blowing in from the Ocean tonight.  After a frustrating four day work week I finally packed it in about 5:30PM tonight.

It had been a long week of phone calls, emails, inmails and texts.  I was able to get docs for a small A4 black device late today.  I'm hoping that will be the order that opens the flood gates with my 25 plus opportunities.  

I'm going to get a little off the rails here for a bit.  Why do so many peeps in our industry refer to MFP's that only print black as "black & white"?  When the heck did "white" ever work it's way into our language? It's either a color MFP or a black MFP right?  I prefer to use monochrome however that's really not the right definition either since monochrome could mean any single color.  

To make sure I'm correct I got this off wikipedia.

"A monochromic image is composed of one color. The term monochrome comes from the Ancient Greek: μονόχρωμος, romanized: monochromos, lit. 'having one color'. A monochromatic object or image reflects colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white."

The time before color copiers became available we just called them copiers.

I was not intending to write this blog tonight.  I was spent for the week and needed to relax and not think about work for a couple of days.  I had a final push at the end of the day to make sure I was ready for Monday,

It was about 10PM when I checked my phone for emails. I run a series of alerts with Google so that I receive the latest and greatest news for our industry.  Checked the gmail and there was nothing worthy to post and I then checked my corp. email just to clear out any junk.

The other day I mentioned in one of my blogs is that as long as you work hard you never know what tomorrow will bring you.  I can't tell you enough how true that is because there was one email that came in at 8:16PM.

Seems one of the phone calls and emails (after I call and get a voice mail I always send an email) to an existing account. My email forwarded to another person in that organization.

This person wants to meet with me next week and see what we can offer in the way of copiers for their 14 locations in the US.  Now that's a pretty fraking big opportunity!  Yes, I'm sure there will be competition, and yes it's not a deal yet.  However we need to be in it to win it.  My email went out a few minutes later asking what time is good for that day next week,

Thus for many of you that are going through the ups and downs in this new normal like I am.  Anything can happen at any time as long we we put in the effort.  We just need to put the effort in on a daily basis.

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Twenty-Five of Selling

The last week or so with almost no orders has seen me fighting with myself.  Am I doing everything right? Is there something I'm missing? Am I prospecting enough?  Am I asked the right questions?  What can I do to turn things around?

I thought quite a bit about where I'm at for the month with 9 selling days left in the month last night.  I figure that I'm right back to where I was in March & April where just keep making the calls and sending the emails.  My break out month was May went I billed more than $200K.  Thus it has crossed my mind that September and maybe October might be more like March & April.  I don't like it and don't want to accept it but until our Governor tells everyone to get back to get back to work in our offices it's going to be like this for quite sometime.  Almost thinking it maybe the right to time to make a move to another state.

Moving to another state is interesting, would it be New Mexico, or maybe Arizona?  It then hit me that moving to another state would be giving up.  I've never given up on anything in my life. I've always had the attitude that I can get whatever I want whenever I want it.  The pandemic has thrown a tiny wrench in the attitude for the time being.  No, I'm not going to move and yes I will see this new normal play out here in the North East.

Not a lot went on today. I'm still stuck with my middle four digits for the month.  Today saw a little more action from a few clients but nothing to get super excited about.

The totals for today for prospecting was 16 emails, 18 calls, 3 Teams Appointments, 2 Inmails, 4 texts and 1 Linkedin post.  Three appointments will put on damper on your prospecting for the day.

I mentioned something new in today's prospecting and that was the one Linkedin post.  I went through some of Ricoh's Youtube posts, thought of a nest thread for the video and then posted on Linkedin.  While I'm trying to connect with more peeps on Linkedin I thought posting something about my services could help the cause.  The next thing I need to do is make a list or a couple of lists of the people that I want to see the thread and incorporate them on the post (post lol).

Tomorrow means more of the same....prospecting and growing the funnel because sooner or later the funnel will burst.  I'm hoping sooner than later.

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Twenty-Four of Selling Copiers

Eight more business days and we'll be at the 6 month mark since I was optioned to working remote.  Never in my life did I expect something like this. 

Something like this does make for some great small talk with the gatekeeper though. On many calls I find my self having a laugh with the gatekeeper because at this point in time I'm happy to speak with anyone.  It always gets a chuckle and seems to break the ice when I tell them I'm just happy that I have someone to talk to since I'm remote. In most cases the info I need which  is when is the best time or the best way to contact/communication with the decision maker.

I took yesterdays blog and put Jake Dunlops plan in action today.  One of his taking points with connecting with DM is to mention something to the CEO that they would not expect that you know.  I use Linkedin for most of my research and came up with the C Level Executive that I thought was in charge of buying what I have to offer.  You may ask how did I know that?  It's because I cruised through their contacts and saw a 1st level contact with one of my competitors.  It's a great thing being connected to so many sales people because since I'm connected I can see their level of connection.

I did the research on Linkedin, then Google and I really didn't find much. I went back to Linkedin and read some of the recommendations from others that have worked with or for this person.  One of those referenced a book that the C Level Exec wrote back in 2018.  I googled the book, it was on Amazon and the cost was $9.00 thus I made the investment in myself and ordered the book.  I then sent that Exec a message stating, "just ordered your book and can't wait to read it".  That was all I sent.

In a few days I'll have my book and I'll read the book (hoping it's not too long). From there I'll write a few notes and my plan is to send additional Linkedin messages with maybe thoughts or comments about what I read.  Will it work?  I have no clue, but I do like Jake's plan because it is different.  I'm a firm believer of throwing enough crap on the wall and see what sticks.  In addition what do I have to lose?  I have nothing to lose and more to gain, who knows maybe the book will help me in other ways that I'm not aware of.

The point is to be different, try different things in this new normal

I did this with another Exec also today. This person is the Business Administrator and in most cases they either do the buying or they know who the buyer is.  Yet again it was another trip to Linkedin.  After reading the persons bio and reviewing that persons job history I got what I needed.  In this case the BA served in the Army as an infantry officer and from what I can see maybe still be in the reserves. I sent off an email thanking that person for their service and then asked if he had trained in Fort Benning, Georgia.  The reason why I asked about For Benning is because my son went to basic training there as infantry.   In that same email I also asked if he was the right person to contact or if there was someone else to contact.  

In both cases I put the plan in action and we'll see what comes out of it.  AS I mention last night it's not something that will get me a quick sale but is something that can be nurtured over time.  Hey,  as long as you're prospecting you never know what tomorrow will bring you.

Today's stats saw me with 22 phone calls, 21 emails, 3 inmails (linkedin), 1 text and I was able to knock down two appointments.  Opportunities for the day was zero.

Tomorrow means another day of the same. I usually reserve my mornings for completing tasks on "things to do" list and the afternoon is spend prospecting.

I think I closer to maybe a couple of orders in the next couple of days.  I've got 10 selling days left in the month and don't have much to show for September yet.

I may waiver every once in a while but I will not let this pandemic defeat me in attaining my goal for the end of the year.

-=Good Selling=-

I'm thinking it should be 124 days but yesterday here in the USA was a holiday.

Over the long weekend I read an excellent thread about the top 5 ways to get in front of a CEO.  Jake Dunlop wrote this and I'm sure he won't mind me sharing as long as you connect with him.  

Jake's stuff is below;

Most sales reps should not waste time trying to get in front of a CEO. They can’t talk the talk yet.

But hey, why not try...here are the top five ways to get in front of a CEO from a CEO

1. Act like you understand there is zero chance I’m available next week and pick a date a few weeks out - show you get it

2. Talk about something you know about me outside of my role and what my company does. Impress me with something non-obvious

3. Leverage your CEO or senior executive - high likelihood I’m going to resonate with their narrative and that’s ok.

When I was 28-29, I leveraged my CEO and COO to get meetings with the CEO of Kimpton Hotels and CHRO of Intel.

No way I could have ran those meetings 😂

4. Never talk product.

Make the goal of the first meeting to educate me on the space, it’s importance, and why we should meet again.

5. Be relentless.

Call my EA, mail me stuff, and send highly customized notes. 80% of the time people are just busy and might take touchpoint 14 to breakthrough.

Compare this to what you are doing now...

Setting C-level meetings is hard and if you want to actually get there, you have to be willing to research and prep like you’ve never done before.

Set the big meetings my friends - good luck 💯

I agree with all five and number two is the best of all.  If you're doing your research on Linkedin or Google you can find something to break the ice rather than spouting speeds, feeds and products.  I especially the line after number 5 about reletness and increasing those touch points to 14 (maybe even more).  Jake is also right about the time thing especially during COVID19, most CEO's are focused on surviving along with how to still grow the business.  Shooting that person with an email or an inmail with interesting subject matter can go a long way.  This is not a method that will get you an appointment in weeks or months, but a relationship that you cultivate over time.

Today was all about prospecting and research and a little bit of following up.  After the long weekend I thought it would be best to let the ball travel for another day.

I logged 45 touches today.  Fifteen of those were via email, nineteen phone calls, ten inmails via Linkedin, and one text.  I was able to schedule one appointment and create a small opportunity for this month.  Not a great day but a good day to kick off the week. 

Another one of my goals for September was to get control of my CRM because there is no way I can make 100 calls or touches a day.  If I had zero clients to attend to then yes I could make the those calls.  I believe I'm at that point of finally being able to look at my CRM and be upset because there's no way I can make those calls.  For instance tomorrow I have 37 touches (calls or emails) on tap for the day. I know that's a goal that I can accomplish, this enables me to have a better mindset for the day.

Late in the day I received a verbal for a net new order and I'm hoping this is the order that will open the flood gates for September.  It's not a big order nor is it a decent size one, it's for a small mono A4 but it is a net new client!

Tomorrow will be more of the same, I believe I have another appointment mid-day.  More of the day will be spent following up on the opportunity list and trying to bring some of these to the finish line.

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Twenty-One of Selling Copiers

I was able to have a chat with the manager of a University Print Shop today in New Jersey. I won't get into details about the call other than they are operating mostly remote with few students on campus. In additional purchases are put on hold and was told there is no timeline when things will return to "normal".

That person made other statement to me, "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now, it must be terrible". Whoa!  What was I to say?  What I did say is that we've had full employment with our staff during this pandemic and while business is down we are holding our own. That call went on for another twenty minutes until we agreed that we would catch up in 60 days or so.

Our Governor of New Jersey stated today that we are in the heart of Stage Three re-opening and the next stage is the "new normal". I don't think anyone in the state knows what that "new normal" is and I'm alarmed that there will still be some control in place.  Hey, it's been almost 6 months what's another few months after we were told we would only have to go through this for two weeks.

I was a bit of a prospecting fool today.  I managed to score four appointments on my tally sheet along with 25-30 calls, 15-20 emails and 2 inmails.  I was also happy that I was able to add a $40K opportunity that could close before the end of the year.  Who knows maybe even this month if all goes well.  Thus I've hit the first goal of the month for adding the $80K in opportunities that I needed. Now all I have to do is sell something .

As far as my week goes I'm thinking I'm going to be pulling a zero at this point. I've got two opps out there for $20K for this week, but with tomorrow being the Friday before labor day I'm not counting on them. Would be nice though.

I figure by noon tomorrow since the weather is going to be awesome for the entire weekend that most DM's will getting an early retreat.  I can't blame them either, at this point in time I think we need all of the rest and relaxation that we can afford to take. Maybe, just maybe after Labor Day we'll start to see the action heat back up.

There's no blog for tomorrow an I'll be back at it on Tuesday.  Everyone in the US have a great Labor Day weekend and to our friends that are not in the US have a great weekend!

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Nineteen of Selling Copiers

Yay!  Today is finally over.  Tuesday means its time for our weekly sales meeting and today's meeting meant it was time to review some of the quarterly numbers for the team. It was nice to see my name mentioned a few times, actually it was awesome to see my name up there with our other top performers.

To this day I still want to be the top dog or least least one of the top dogs.  Some things never change do they.

Much of my time was taken up with some internal meetings with trying to find a solution for a client.  That client has a ticking time bomb with an XP OS and software that can only run on XP OS.  If we can figure this out this would be a home run for the end of the year.  Thus since there's not much of anything else going on I put more time into that today rather than a full day of prospecting.

I was able to log maybe twenty calls, another ten emails and three inmails. But it was another day without adding opportunities or appointments.

I did have one client that asked me to send the contracts over for an A3 color MFP for about $6K. The other 13K opportunity was sent an email earlier in the AM.  Some how some way I need to get close to $20K this week. If I can do that I've got a decent shot at getting to where I want to be by the 23rd of the month.

I had a late call from Tim (VP of Sales) for a check-in.  I told him how the day progressed and how frustrating a couple of days of prospecting can be.  I also told him that I'm going back to something I used to use years ago.  

"Prospecting by Day and Quote by Night" 

Years ago before and during the first couple of years of the Print4Pay Hotel I would only develop quotes and or sales order at night or before 8AM in the morning.  The plan was simple because it would allow me more time for prospecting.  I'm back at it now, thus if you see some of the post's slowing down over the next three weeks it's because I need to get to where I want to be in my day job.

Tomorrow means more prospecting since there is nothing else on my plate.  

One other interesting note from today.  One account that I'd like to break was on my list for contacting today. Instead of calling first I used Linkedin to see who I had connections with at that company. I had not first level connections but there was about a dozen second level connections. I picked out one person that we had more connections in common. From there I read that persons bio, seems that person worked in sales for many years in Xerox.  Dang, we had something in common!  

I sent a short intro of when I broke into the business and how I stated as a tech.  I then asked if that person could direct me to the right person to follow up with.  Will it work?  I have no clue but in today's world I believe it's best to try just about anything. Be different!

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Eighteen of Selling Copiers

From earlier in the AM I knew today was going to be one of those tough days. 

Kathy and I attended our grand daughters baptism on Saturday we then hosted a small get together at our house.  Sunday was more of the main event with more family members and friends to make a great celebration.  Kathy and I finally arrived home about 9PM last night.  It was a very long day but was one of those days that you never want to miss.  There are two things in life the trump all others, family and health.

It's no secret that I'm back in one of those slumps.  Nothing really on the horizon for this week except for the $13K opportunity that eluded me last week. I was able to deposit a $6.7K order with an existing client.  However when you need to get to $50K this month, the small order doesn't help with keeping my sanity.  I'm thinking if I can find a way to get to $20K by the end of this week I've got a shot.

Between addressing a couple of inbound calls and emails I was able to knock down about 53 calls, 15 emails, and three inmails.  Which accounted for zero opportunities and one appointment. Not a good day, but not a bad day either because I was able to out a dent in my calls for this week.  Tomorrow will have the same effort since I'm a zero for appointments.  Hoping that tomorrow will be better than today and I'm determined to be better tomorrow than I was today.

It's not easy and I commend those that can roll through 200-400 calls a week.  You are my hero's!  With almost no appointments for the week that's a number that I need to duplicate this week. I logged about 5 calls after 5PM just hoping I might catch someone.  

Today I updated my opportunity list for the next 90 days.  There are 26 companies that have a chance of closing.  Out of the 26 thirteen are net new opportunities. The potential revenue for net new is $173K, I'll put pen to paper in the AM and count the rest.

I mentioned last week that my $30K existing opportunity came out of the weeds last week. It took me three days to finally get a meeting with that person.  The $30K opp has now dwindled to a weak $10K opportunity because I was told that they are selling some of their operations and will not upgrade those facilities.  As much as I hate losing $20K I was happy there is still a $10K opportunity.  

Sometimes the crap just never ends, you're humming along it seems like everything you touch closes and when you're slumping ever opportunity has an issue.  It makes me want to open the window and scream "I'm not going to take it anymore!"  

Labor weekend is upon us here in the US.  Monday is the holiday and many clients will get out of Dodge early on Friday. Friday is the day to not slack off and put in work for the full day. Phone calls may not be the best bet of the day, emailing Friday afternoon may reap benefits for the next week.

-=Good Selling=-

One more item, our Governor re-opened in door dining for 9/4 with a 25% capacity.  It wan't because of the science and data but more about 200 dining establishments that banded together and offered an ultimatum to the Governor.  It was give us a date by 9/8 or we're all opening.

Last week gyms were allowed to open with the same capacity and peeps need to wear a mask while working out.  Can you imagine that?